


A Good Catholic Boy

by takethethirdoption



Category: X-Men (Movieverse), X-Men: Apocalypse
Genre: F/M, Kurt is bae, Nightcrawler - Freeform, X-Men Apocalypse, X-men - Freeform
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-06-05
Updated: 2016-06-05
Packaged: 2018-07-12 09:31:29
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,103
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/7096903
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/takethethirdoption/pseuds/takethethirdoption
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Before you left for your new school, your mother asked you to keep a look-out for a good Catholic boy. You had the inclination that she didn't mean one with blue skin and a tail. But the heart wants what the heart wants.</p>
            </blockquote>





	A Good Catholic Boy

"There you have it, the cell as basic as you can explain it," Hank finished, moving to erase his work. "And it only took three weeks."

You breathed a small sigh of relief and put down your pen. Lines and lines of meticulous notes filled your pad, whereas your fellow students had some sparse doodles and a few bullet points. It confused you greatly. Didn’t they want to be here? As far as you were concerned this School for Gifted Youngsters was miles better than your old public school. Ah yes, being picked on for your nausea-inducing ability to fold yourself like a pretzel, yet impervious to shoves and locker tackles from girls made you a double mockery.

Your power, as described by your biology teacher when he came to your house one fine Saturday, was manipulation of your own body to a cellular level. Perhaps you were doing it without even thinking, Hank offered. Or that you guessed that you were a contortionist in the making.

No, as it turned out. Not even the best contortionists could do what you were capable of. 

On the opposite end of the spectrum, you were able to turn the outside of your body hard as titanium, which protected you physically from bullies. Unfortunately, this did not extend to a psychological level.  
This, Hank reassured you, would not be your experience at the school of his boss. There, your gifts would be developed as well as your mind. Everyone attending would be like you – special. And appreciated.

You couldn’t pack your bags fast enough.

****************

“Now sweetheart,” your mother started before fixing the collar of your coat. Today was the day you were to leave for your new school. Hank was waiting at the curb with a black woman with a white mohawk. Ororo. Mom’s attention was entirely on you, her only child. “This school is far away, so make sure to write. Call if the school lets you.”  
“I will.  
“Wash your clothes and be nice to everyone,” your father added as he moved your suitcases to the porch.  
“Of course!”  
“And if you don’t learn how to use your powers faster than everyone else, don’t let it discourage you. You’re also there for your studies.”  
“Thanks, Mom.”  
“And find a good Catholic boy there,” she whispered, hugging you tight.  
“Mom… I’m fifteen. I’ll be too busy for boys,” you murmured, blushing hard and wondering if your new teacher heard you.  
He did from the smirk on his face.  
"Way to embarrass me, by the way."  
"She's getting her last few good ones in," your father chuckled, bringing you in for a bear hug. "Knock 'em dead."

You really thought what you said would be the case and you kept repeating this to yourself as your house grew farther away from you. Truthfully, you wanted to learn as much as possible in order to properly learn about your powers, control them and perhaps even improve them. Not a single boy would earn your affection.

Then you met Kurt.  
***************  
He was, perhaps, the strangest looking of all the students at your new, impressively large, school. So impressive that you couldn’t tell it had been wholly destroyed just a few months ago. Kurt Wagner, or Nightcrawler as was his hero name, was bright blue, had large yellow eyes and a prehensile tail. Kurt gave you a start when you first saw him. How could he not?

Ororo heard you breathe in fast when Kurt walked far across the grounds.

“Kurt’s very nice. Scared of his own shadow, actually.”  
“Umm… what’s his power?”  
“Teleportation. We call him Nightcrawler. He used to be in a circus.”  
“I could believe that.”

Your first true interaction with Kurt came during lunch time two days later. You had a full tray of salad, cake, milk and sandwiches. The public school you used to attend had food so bland or greasy that you constantly had to brownbag it. Food so good right in front of you led you to have eyes bigger than your stomach. 

Walking through the dining room, several students were sitting down and laughing to themselves. Too shy to sit with new people just yet, you had the full intention of eating outside, but the large chandelier in the middle of the dining room caught your attention. You didn’t notice Kurt’s tail straight in your path until it was too late.

Milk was spilled on the carpet. Sandwiches lay on the floor, scattered. Your cake was a crumbled mess. Salad was tossed on the shirt you bought specifically because you thought it accentuated your hips. 

“Oh, I am so sorry!” Kurt had a German accent and was soon out of his seat. “We didn’t see you!”  
“Uhh…” Your face burned in embarrassment before you dropped down to start picking up your lunch. “It’s… it’s fine. I can get some more.” 

What a horrific way to introduce yourself to some fellow students, looking a fool. So you continued to stare at your ruined lunch, fumbling to put plates back on your tray. This would be a disaster to clean up… before the food started cleaning itself up.

A normal person would have hurt their neck snapping it up so fast, but you gazed unpained at a red-headed girl neatly using her psychic powers to move your spilled food to the trash.

“No harm done.”  
“Thank you… umm?”  
“Jean. You met Kurt just now and the boy with the shades is Scott. The girl is Jubilee.”  
Being polite, you introduced yourself.  
Scott, stood up, only to shove Kurt forward. “As an apology, our blue friend here will help you get some more food. Kurt, get a move on.”  
“Right, Scott.” 

Kurt offered his hand to pull you back up, which you took. You waited for a half-second to admire his eyes, not as scary as you’d thought they’d be, before following him back to the kitchen.

“You had… a lot of food for one lunch,” he began, filling your tray exactly as it had been before his tail had tossed it unceremoniously onto Professor Xavier’s floors.  
“I was hungry. Um… when I’m homesick I don’t tend to eat for a day or so, and now I’m making up for lost time.”  
“When I first came here, I did not have much time to worry about things like that. I think I was here for only two days before I was on my first mission as an X-men.”  
“Lucky you. Or not lucky.”  
Kurt smiled openly at you, showing off sharp teeth. He looked like a demon if you were being honest, but more than that, you thought he was cute. Adorable, even. “I consider myself to be lucky. Peter was not so lucky, but his leg is better now.”  
“What happened?”  
Your new lunch was slid in front of you. “Broke it, but he is healed,” he repeated.  
“I’ve never had a broken bone,” you confessed. “Powers don’t let it happen.”  
“Do you have mending powers?”

You didn’t answer right away, as you had to do a quick Lord’s Prayer before you ate.

“No, I can just have control over my cells, or so says Hank. Means I can be hard or soft, rigid or flexible, and it’s sort of like a defense.” You shrugged a little and began to eat.  
“… Are you Christian?” Kurt asked softly, perching himself on a stool.  
“Catholic,” you corrected, glancing up. Kurt kept smiling at you. “Are you?”  
“Yes.”  
“Cheers to that. How’s the Catholic guilt working for you?”

You had meant this as a joke. That's what you considered sign of being a true Catholic, being blunt about how your religion shaped you as an individual to the point of humor. Sarcasm was a way for you to lighten the mood. But Kurt thought you were being quite serious. So he stood up and in front of you and took off his coat, then shirt, to reveal many tattoos and scars. 

“One for every sin.”  
You could only gape before words actually came out. So you chewed thoughtfully before swallowing. Unfortunately, your words could have been chosen more wisely.  
“Christ… I mean… Kurt, you couldn’t have sinned that much.”  
“I believe I have.” He put his clothes back down and went back to perching on a stool.  
“Well, you seem very sweet to me.”  
“Thank you… can you explain your powers to me more? I am curious.”

You hesitated at that. Even though you knew this school was full of people who would understand and even encourage your mutant powers, years of getting bullied and isolated because of it kept you back. Still drilling at you from the back of your head.

“It would be better if I show you. But… not right now. Is that okay?”  
Kurt nodded. “If you are not comfortable, I will not force you.”  
“Thanks. I’ll… see you around?”  
“Please!” He scaled back, as Scott taught him around girls he liked. “I mean, that is cool.”  
He felt his spine tingle as you laughed. “I’m glad you think so. Have a good Wednesday.”

***************

Your crush on Kurt had been growing since you first met him and you felt three weeks was a long enough time to finally show him your powers. 

He normally greeted you in the hallways with a nod. If he started talking with you, he would hesitate until he got comfortable enough to chat in earnest. The way you grabbed his arm and dragged him aside just about made him speechless. You knew he would be mute if he saw your doodles of his name in hearts in your notebook tucked under your arm.

“Do you want to see my powers now?”  
“Y-yes, of course.”  
“Then come on.”

You kept his hand in yours as you dragged him again, this time out into the grounds. Outside was the best place for demonstrating, as you preferred to bend on soft grass than hard linoleum floors.

Kurt sat under the shade of a large oak tree while you stretched in front of him. 

“Okay, basically I do it without thinking, just…”  
And with that, you bent your neck, swung your leg up and hooked the back of your knee on top of your neck. Your other leg bent into a V-shape while your shoulders dislocated to fold neatly behind your back.  
Most people would have turned away in disgust. Kurt, the sweetheart, leaned forward and gaped.  
“You could have been in the circus with me,” he laughed.  
“I’ve only found a use for playing hide-and-seek with it. I was hoping I would be able to be an X-Men with it somehow.”  
“And you become rigid, too?” Kurt asked.  
“Can you teleport?”  
“To an extent, yes.”  
“Get me high up in the air and then drop me.”  
“To what end?”  
“I can do a superhero landing.”  
Kurt did as he was asked and stood up and took your hand. “Ready?”  
“Ready.”

In the blink of an eye and a bit of smoke, you were fifty feet above the ground, eliciting a gasp of delight from you. In another crack, Kurt was gone and back on the ground.

And then you began falling.

 

Across the grounds, Charles Xavier was moving along on a dirt path with Hank by his side. Charles was able to see everything and stopped cold.  
“Hank, did Kurt just take the new student in the air to drop her?”  
“I believe so.”  
The two winced when you hit the ground in a three-point landing.  
“Her knees should be in her stomach by now,” Charles muttered, continuing on his way.  
“Her powers basically act like shock absorbers. She’s fine, Charles.” Hank did do a double-take and saw Kurt applauding to your bow. “They make a cute couple. Like you and-”  
“You’re going to say Erik.”  
Hank chuckled. "Am I wrong?”

 

“I can only imagine how well you would fight if you had training,” Kurt said, giving you a once over.  
Not a broken bone or a bruise or even a sweat drop. If you learned how to throw a punch, he reasoned, you would hit an opponent with an astounding amount of force. To think a girl with cherub cheeks would be able to pack such a wallop.  
“You think?” you asked, bending down to slap the dirt off your legs. You hoped that Professor Xavier wouldn’t mind his landscapes a bit impacted.  
“I know. You are blessed with beauty and talent.”  
Again you snapped back up. Beauty and talent? Beauty?

A good Catholic boy is what your mother wanted you to find.  
Kurt was as good as any.


End file.
